Roll-film-developing apparatus.



R. KROEDEL.

ROLL FILM DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION mm JUNE 21.1917.

I IN VEN TOR. Eaer iifiwed'e W1 msssss 0223A TTORNEYS.

UNITED STA S PATENT UFFIQE.

ROBERT KROEDEL, OF ROCHESTER, NEV] YORK, ASSIGNOR TO EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ROLL-FILM-DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1917.

Application filed June 21, 1917. Serial No. 176,223.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT KRoEDnL, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in Roll-Film- Developing Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to photography and more particularly to devices for the daylight development of photographic film and it has for its object to provide a simple, cheap and convenient developing tank in which the ordinary film cartridge or roll film can be expeditiously and satisfactorily developed. To these and other ends the invention resides in certain. improvements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a developing apparatus constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2- is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central vertical section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; parts of the tank and plunger being broken away and a spool of film being shown in position to be unrolled;

Fig. 1 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the unrolling of the film completed;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the apparatus;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken sub.- stantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrow, and

Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 7 7 of Fig. 4. looking in the direction of the arrow.

Similar reference numeral throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

In the present embodiment of the invention, 1 indicates an elongated tank or tray of rectangular cross section. It is provided with a displaceable and, in the present instance, detachable flanged cover 2 that is secured in position at one end by a perforated tongue 3 engaging over a pin 4 on that end of the tank and near the other end by hooks or catches 5 pivoted at 6 to the side walls of the tray and engaging lateral pins 7 on the side flanges of the cover. At this same end,

the end wall of the tray is notched at 8 to provide a bearing for a reciprocatory push rod 9 that i held in said bearing by the cover 2 and the latter is provided with a corresponding notch 10 in which the rod also bears. The bearing 8 is open when the cover is off and the rod 9 is then free to be lifted out or laid therein.

Just below the notched bearing 8 the end wall of the tank is fitted on its outer side with a spaced bridge plate 11 having one or more impaling points 12 at its lower edge. The film roll or cartridge is represented in F 3 and 4 as consisting of the usual flanged spool 13 upon which is wound a strip of film 14 secured at its ends to alonger paper backing strip 15. To develop the film, it is placed in the end of the tank adjacent to the bearing 8 and the lead porion or end of the backing 15 is passed upwardly over the rim of the end wall of the tank as shown in Fig. 3 and thence clownwardly on the outside beneath the bridge piece 11 and impaled upon the points 12. When this is done, the push rod 9 is pulled out as far as it will go so that a downwardly and transversely extending loop 16 thereon will lie between the roll and the end of the tank though the roll i not at this time unrolled sufl'iciently to exposethe film strip 16. The tank is filled with developing solution and the cover 2 applied. Carried on this end of the cover is a means for clamping the backing strip against the bottom of the tank and it consists in this instance of a pair of rigid pins 17 that engage the paper backing as shown in Figs. 8 and 4. The rod 9 is then thrust inwardly into the tank longitudinally thereof by means of a handle portion or eye 18 and as this occurs, the loop 16 ride against the periphery of the film roll and rolls it along the length of the tank to the position of Fig. ti: so that the film strip 14 is fully exposed to the developer and lies uppermost on the backing paper 15. WVhen the strip is so extended it is held submerged in the developer by the pins 17 at one end and the loop 16 at the other end, the lead end of the backing being held fast in the manner described.

After the film has been entirely unwound and stretched in a straight strip, it is further maintained in this condition by yielding latch devices 19 between which the spool 13 is thrust by the push rod and which prevent it from returning or rolling back along the tank. These devices consist, in the present instance of indented lugs punched. in from the material of the side walls of the tank and these walls yield sufliciently to allow the spool ends which they engage closely to be forced .between them after which'the lugs spring back and lock the spool though the latter may be readily lifted out after the developing operation has been completed. The film being fully developed, the cover is removed and the plunger lifted up after which the spool and strip may be readily lifted out after disengagement at 12.

It will be noted that as the cartridge is unrolled the film is spread with its sensitive surface uppermost though held close to the bottom of the tank as the spool unwinds from the bottom and the film is always on the inner side of the film and paper con voluti-ons. Bubbles are therefore not apt to collect on the film surface and the liquid can be agitated and flowed freely across such surface. The device consists of two parts and is easy to clean, the tank being perfectly clear on its interior when the cover and push rod are lifted off.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a roll film developing apparatus, the combination with an elongated tank adapted to permit a film spool to roll therein away from one end of the tank until unwound, of a push rod arranged to reciprocate through an end wall of the tank and adapted to engage and roll the spool and means for securing the free end of the film strip to the tank adjacent to the first mentioned end wall thereof.

2. In a roll film developing apparatus, the combination with an elongated tank adapted to permit a film spool to roll therein away from one end of the tank until unwound and provided with a displaceable cover and with a bearing in an end wall closed by the cover, of a push rod arranged to reciprocate in the bearing and adapted to engage and roll the spool, and means for securing the free end of the film strip to the tank adjacent to the first mentioned end wall thereof.

3. In a roll film developing apparatus, the combination with an elongated tank adapted to permit a film spool to roll therein away from one end of the tank until unwound and provided with a displaceable cover, of a push rod arranged to reciprocate through an end wall of the tank and adapted to engage and roll the spool and an impaling device on the outer side of said end wall for securing the free end of the film strip when passed over the wall beneath the cover.

4:. In a roll film developing apparatus, the combination with an elongated tank adapted to permit a film spool to roll therein away from one end of the tank until unwound and provided with a displaceable cover beneath one end of which the film strip is adapted to pass, of means for clamping an adjacent portion of the strip against the bottom of the tank and means for rolling the spool toward the opposite end of the tank.

5. In a roll film developing apparatus, the combination with an elongated tank adapted to permit a film spool to roll therein away from one end of the tank until unwound and provided with a displaceable cover beneath one end of which the film strip is adapted to pass, of means on the cover for clamping an adjacent portion of the strip against the bottom of the tank and means for rolling the spool toward the opposite end of the tank.

6. In a roll film developing apparatus, the combination with an elongated tank adapted to permit a film spool to roll therein away from one end of the tank until unwound, of

means at one end of the tank for securing the free end of the film strip, means for rolling the spool away from said end and means at the other end of the tank for preventing the return of the spool.

7 In a roll film developing apparatus, the combination with an elongated tank adapted to permit a. film spool to roll therein away from one end of the tank until unwound, of means at one end of the tank for securing the free end of the film strip, means for rolling the spool away from said end and yielding automatically engaging means at the other end of the tank for preventing the return of the spool.

ROBERT KROIJDEL.

Vitnesses RUssnLL B. GRIFFITH, AcNEs NESBITT BIssnLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

